When I bought this farm property, I did a lot of research online about the South Fork River that runs through it. I found online environmental research white papers that described the stream in poor health and devoid of fish during the 1960s and 1970s. The reason for this is the upper regions of the watershed had hundreds of oil wells operating with little or no supervision from the EPA. I’m not an expert on it, but I’ve heard that the process requires using salt water to flush the wells. I’m sure this wastewater, along with leaking oil, washed down into the creek system, contributing to the stream’s poor health.

In the first decade in 2000, when I purchased the land, I was able to catch a few small fish, which didn’t deter me as I was so proud to be able to fish land they were so hard to buy. Over time I noticed the fishing on the Creek improved to where we were catching more (quality) fish. This is a positive testament to how resilient mother nature is. Now it’s not uncommon for me to come out and catch 5 to 7 decent smallmouth and, as you can see from his photos, an occasional whopper.

Guests occasionally ask if they can fish the Creek and, if so, how is the fishing? My response is always the same. I tell them, “you are more than welcome to fish it. The fishing can be good in certain months of the year. I only request that you release the fish you catch since it is a tiny watershed. That way, we can sustain the fish population for everyone to enjoy.”